36 month (3 year!!) updates on Lil J

As Lil J approached the age of 2 I kept wondering what was in store.  I had heard so often about the dreaded "terrible twos" & was a tad worried, I must admit.  And yeah, I guess this past year held a lot more tantrums & a lot more time-outs & spanks & discussions about the behavior that led to those consequences.  But anytime I mentioned the upcoming "terrible twos", people would reassure me that it was NOTHING compared to the "threes".  Suddenly I was hearing EVERYONE saying that the 3s are sooo much worse than the 2s.  Despite the tantrums in the 2s I have to say it was a VERY fun year indeed.  It's a wonderful age.

Since he was born I kept wanting to be able to interact with him more & teach him more things & show him things.  And this past year he was finally at an age (especially in the second half of the year) where he was communicating himself really well & comprehending really well.  I had tried so many times in the past to take him places (zoos, parks, fire station, etc) & he was never very responsive.  Last November we took him to the zoo (the San Diego Zoo, much bigger than the other little tiny ones I've taken him to so far).  He still wasn't "really" into it, BUT it was a huge improvement over our past experiences.

But I must also say that the past couple of weeks have been especially tough.  I think I'm getting a preview of the 3s that I've heard so much about.  He wants to argue A LOT.  He's now talking back.  And he frequently just has such an ugly attitude about anything & everything.

His new thing (as of a few weeks ago) is "what's that? what's that? what's that?"  He points at EVERYTHING these days asking to know what it is.  I have to admit that I love this.  Sometimes (like when I'm driving) it's hard for me to know what exactly he's pointing at & we both tend to get a little frustrated, but for the most part it's wonderful.  And now he knows A LOT of things.  So now a lot of times he's really just asking ME, he wants me to answer his question.  So he'll get frustrated & tell me the answer or he'll praise me for getting the right answer.  It's really cute.

He's already been a beyond super picky eater, but it has gotten much worse in the past week or two.  And I weighed & measured him this morning & it shows-he has lost weight since I last weighed him at 34 months.  My growth percentile calculator that I've been using ends at 36 months.  So I will no longer be able to monitor that (if anyone reading knows of one that goes beyond 36 months please share).  But I will still be weighing & measuring on a somewhat regular basis from here on out.  Right now he is 37" tall (25-50%), weighs 32.8 lbs (50-75%), & still has a head circumference of 21.5% (>95%).  It's reassuring to see that his weight ranks that well because it seems that he doesn't eat enough, at least lately.  It seems that he is short for his age, although his pants size is right on for his age, while his shirt size is 5T (due to a long torso mostly).  His head circumference has been the same for quite a while now & has remained >95% for quite some time it seems.  I do have some trouble getting some of his shirts over his head, so maybe that's a sign that he does have a big head for his age?  And we just bought him a helmet & the toddler helmet was too small, we had to get the ages 5 & up helmet for him.  Although looking at him I don't think he has an obviously big head.  I'm hoping it means he has a big brain, LOL, & he'll be a very smart boy.

April 1st was Lil J's first night sleeping in his own room.  He did soooo well.  I am so proud of him.  I was worried that it would be hard for him after spending almost 3 years in his parent's room.  It was so cute the next morning, as soon as he woke up he came running to our room & hopped in bed with us.  He did that for several days.  Then we had a few nights where he woke up & couldn't go back to sleep so we let him sleep with us, in our bed (we've never done that before).  I was worrying it might become a habit that's hard to break, but I also must admit that I really enjoy cuddling with him.  He does like to push with his legs while he's sleeping, which keeps hubby awake.  But I actually like it for some reason.  I think it actually reminds me of when he was still inside of me, pushing on me.  After a few nights of that he has settled in well though & has been sleeping through the night well in his room in his bed.  Now when he wakes in the morning sometimes he heads to our bedroom & sometimes (if one of us is in the kitchen, as hubby is during the week at 6 am making breakfast for himself & my stepson as they get ready for work & school) he hangs out in the living room/dining room/kitchen area.  He's never been one to stick to a routine for very long (always keeps me on my toes!) so I'm sure even this current morning trend will change at some point soon.

This morning we told him it was his birthday.  We told him he's THREE.  And we sang happy birthday to him.  His uncle & aunt called him to sing & a little bit later his grandma called too to sing to him.  He was really excited about all the singing.  He keeps yelling out "happy day!", meaning "happy BIRTHday!", hehe.

Tomorrow we are going to give him his gift.  We got him a bike for his birthday.  This is the bike we got him, although we actually got it at Costco (for less money) at Christmas time & stored it away until now.  I knew that it was a seasonal item for Costco & that they wouldn't have it once the Christmas season ended.  It says ages 3-6 on the box, so I thought it would be great for his birthday.  He LOVES bikes & he really likes Lightning McQueen too (although he likes Tow Mater more).  I can't find a pic online of the helmet we got him, but it also has Lighting McQueen on it & it came with a bike bell that has Lightning McQueen on it.  We also got him a bike horn.

And a week from tomorrow we are having a birthday party for him.  We hope he has a blast.

And soon (probably May 19th) we're going to take him to Sea World for the first time.  We're hoping he LOVES it.

35 month updates on Lil J

I hadn't really decided on whether or not to post a blog this month.  I guess I will do it since I'm on the computer right now.

I did not weigh or measure this month, but I certainly will next month when he turns THREE.  Yikes, my baby is no longer a baby for sure now!

As for changes since my last blog post: he is talking much more.  I think I say that every time I post a blog now, but it's so true.  He just keeps on talking better & better all the time.  It amazes me.  I LOVE that we can really have a conversation & he can really communicate his needs.

We've been doing the no wheat, corn, dairy, or sugar diet for over a month now.  His tongue & breath are good.  His toes are better than they were (& while I still dry them with a hair dryer after his bath I no longer put the antifungal cream on them anymore) but still not 100% cured.  I'm hoping after a couple more months his toes will be all better.  He appears to no longer have an oat allergy.  I haven't tested barley again, only because I haven't cooked any.  The same is true of coconut.  And I don't plan on testing the pumpkin (since it was such a severe reaction) anytime in the near future.  He still has areas of his skin that feel like sandpaper.  I had hoped that was part of the fungal issue & that it would go away with this diet change, but it hasn't as of yet.  I should do some research on that I guess.

I remember hearing lots of people saying that 3 is so much worse than 2.  At first I was really surprised after hearing so much about the terrible 2s.  But just in this last month I can see what they're talking about.  Lil J has started talking back & with a real snotty attitude at that.  At first he learned to say "I don't like [insert what he doesn't like]".  And at first I thought this was fabulous.  He was finally able to communicate his likes & dislikes to me.  But he quickly went from just telling me what he doesn't like to just being downright snotty & attitudey with this new phrase.  It wasn't too hard to figure out when he started using the phrase about things he normally loves & of course the snotty tone to his voice made it obvious as well.  He also has started telling me "no" with a real snotty attitude as well lately.  I am still so shocked when I hear it, how could such ugly stuff come out of my normally sweet little boy??  I'm sure in time I'll get used to it & it won't shock me like it does now.  For now, he gets a time out for this type of speech as well as tantrums that he still does throw occasionally.  And after the time out is over he has to apologize for his behavior & we have a little chat about what he did wrong & what he can do next time around to prevent the time out from occurring.

I think that's about all the updates I have for now.  He will soon have his own bedroom, which is pretty exciting.  I've known how I wanted my baby's room painted since I was pregnant.  And I have added on some other details along the way after knowing my baby was a boy & getting to know his personality & likes/dislikes.

I think that's all the updates I have for now...........until next month............

34 month updates on Lil J

I skipped last month.  Not a whole lot to report, but also I was very busy.  I'm a day late this month, but better late than never, right?  Yesterday was another busy day.  Hubby had to work Saturday so he took yesterday off.  I had to go grocery shopping & then running errands with hubby.

So, getting down to the stats.  He now weighs 33.4 lbs (75-90%).  His height is 36.5" (25-50%).  And his head circumference is 21.5" (>95%).

His communication skills are AMAZING me these days.  I think I've said that before maybe, but they just continue to improve so much all the time now.  He can REALLY convey what he wants to now, more than ever before, that's for sure.

Since while I was pregnant I have dreamed of reading stories to my child.  It's such a happy memory from my own childhood & I do believe it inspires a child to love reading, which is crucial (& seriously lacking in this day & age) as a Christian.  When Lil J was very little I would read to him often, both in English & in Spanish. But once he was old enough to cry & scream & object that's exactly what he did.  And so I had given up.  Occasionally I try to read him a bedtime story.  Sometimes it works & sometimes it doesn't.  I take what I can get at this point.  But as of the just the last couple of days he is loving me reading to him & he actually will bring me a book & ask me to read it to him!!  Needless to say this really makes me happy & touches my heart.

He is definitely able to read a few words, although I am not going to start any formal reading lessons until he turns 3.  And even then I'll start & see how he does & go from there.  If it's not working out then I'll just put it on hold for a while & try again at a later time.

He has an amazing memory.  He loves any type of vehicles-cars, buses, boats, trains, planes, trucks, etc.  Quite some time ago hubby had given him a little die cast tow truck.  Little did we notice that it was from the Disney movie Cars.  Not that that's such a bad thing, BUT it sure does mean that it's gonna be everywhere.  And it certainly is.  He totally fell in love with the tow truck.  I'd be in a store (even grocery stores!) & he'd be exclaiming "tow truck!!" & I'd look around & find some sort of advertising related to the Disney movie.  Later on I got him some books & other things with those Disney Cars in them.  He really liked them.  Me & hubby kept saying that we really needed to get him the movie.  I had looked at it but it was $20!!  A little more than I'm willing to spend on ANY movie.  Shortly thereafter the 2nd Cars movie was released to DVD.  I was expecting the price of the first one to drop at that time, but no.  Disney has too much pull I guess.  No such luck.  One day when we were Christmas shopping hubby grabbed the 2nd one while we were at Costco.  It was funny because the first couple of times we put it on Lil J wasn't interested in it at all.  As I started narrating what was going on & making it more interesting for him he finally got sucked in & shortly thereafter was in love with it.  About a month ago I finally got the first one on Amazon for about $5.  When I first watched it, while I liked it, I couldn't help but notice it was different from the 2nd one.  The 2nd one is very action packed, so it's easy to hold Lil J's attention.  The first one has more story to it, though it is a good story.  I wasn't really sold on the first one though, until I watched the part of the DVD that showed the making of the movie.  The story they shared & the fact that the movie was based on a real life situation & that it emphasized old time values really appealed to me.  And I can now say that I truly love the first one.  Lil J is enjoying it more now also.  It's just hard to narrow down which one he wants to watch when he asks to watch Cars.  I usually show him the covers of the DVDs & ask him which one he wants to watch.  Whichever one he finally points to is it.  And so far he hasn't been unhappy with the one that I put on, but I think he just likes both of them.

We are still doing well with the Candida cleanse.  His tongue is looking normal, his breath is normal.  His toes are much improved, although not 100% back to normal just yet.  I did get the ThreeLac probiotic & both me & Lil J are taking it daily.  The pack will last us a month.  After that I want to start their other product called FiveLac (has 2 more strains of beneficial bacteria in it than ThreeLac).  When I did  my own candida cleanse I did it for 2 months, so that's sort of what I'm planning for Lil J.  But of course I have to evaluate where he's at when we get to that point.

I am beyond thrilled that my homemade almond yogurt is soooo good & that Lil J loves it just as much as I do, maybe more.  And I know that it has truly live active cultures, which there truly is no guarantee of this in store bought yogurts, even though they state it on the package.  And it's non-dairy & super fresh.  I am truly shocked that there is no almond yogurt option available in health food stores, alongside the soy & rice yogurts.  I am wondering how I might be able to get that option available.......although I don't know if I could keep up with the demand.  I don't know how healthy companies get started, guess I should look into that more.

I've been buying his new short sleeved spring/summer shirts gradually & am now finished.  Yesterday I got him  a jacket the next size up before jackets are completely gone from the stores, just in case he outgrows the current ones before jackets are back in the stores (that happened to us once before--even in the summer months it can get windy & chilly where I live, especially in the evening, so I like to always have a jacket with a hood available for him).  And once the hot weather is here I need to see which shorts fit & which don't & see if I need any new ones.  But spring/summer clothes are always much cheaper than fall/winter clothes.  In the fall/winter I have to get pants, jackets, & shirts.  In the spring/summer a lot of times I only need shirts, a lot of the times his shorts still fit even though they are very small sizes.  I am really excited because I found a shirt with Lightning McQueen & a shirt with Tow Mater (the two main characters from the Disney Cars movie that I mentioned).  I know when he sees him he's gonna be sooo excited!  They also had sweatshirts with the Cars on them, but his size was all sold out sadly.  He currently has 2 long sleeved shirts with the Cars on them & he really loves them.  And his undies are Cars & Thomas the Train themed & he really loves those as well.

He loves his toy vehicles, his books, his stuffed animals, his little plastic (rubber?) animals, his choo choo, his spring horse, balls, swinging.  I'm sure there's other stuff, but that seems to be his faves that he does most of the time.

I think that's all the updates I have for now............

Potty Training continued...update

Ok, so 2 weeks ago Lil J had had 2 accidents at church.  And the week before he had had 1 accident.  Prior to that had been several weeks of zero accidents.  BUT after the two accidents the lady working in the nursery was insistent that something was wrong with Lil J, that he has diabetes or something else wrong with him.  The only way I could end the conversation (& please her it would seem) was to tell her from now on I will bring him in pull ups (let me also repeat that in December it was the ladies in the nursery who had asked why on earth he was still in pulls ups since he wasn't having any accidents).

So the following week Lil J & myself were both too sick to go to church.  We skipped that week & watched it on podcast a few days later.

Yesterday we went & I had him in pull ups.  No one made any comment about the pull ups or the fact that he had zero accidents & the pull up was totally dry after church.  I didn't actually see the lady who was complaining about him, so maybe that's why.  But I changed him back into undies as soon as we got to the car & he remained dry & accident free all day long.

I am very proud of how well he is doing with the potty training actually.  Still not 100% perfect, especially when he's overly tired, but still, for not even being 3 yet I think he's doing really great.  :)  Just wanted to share that update.

Candida Cleanse

I think most people are aware of yeast issues.  But I also think a lot of people downplay how widespread of a problem it is.

I have a long, long history of antibiotic use, beginning at less than a week old.  Growing up I took antibiotics for chronic ear infections, chronic UTIs, chronic tonsillitis & several bad bouts of bronchitis.  Of course back in my childhood years they also gave antibiotics (erythromycin) anytime I was sick, even if it was viral.  And in 2008 I had a really severe spider bite that was MRSA+, for which I received tons & tons of heavy duty antibiotics (both oral & IV) & was even hospitalized for a short time during the treatment.  The tonsillitis subsided in my teen years.  The ear infections subsided in my early 20s.  The UTIs still occur occasionally, though I've now learned that they stem from Interstitial Cystitis & if I can keep that under control I can mostly avoid the UTIs.  That is my constant goal these days.  The bronchitis gets me still occasionally, but not nearly as often.  I now use propolis as my defense against coughs (I learned this from my mother in law) & it really does help me in most cases.  I had tried to use a pill form of propolis (simply because it's easier & not as messy) not too long ago but it didn't seem to be very effective I have to admit.  So I've returned to using the pasty form & it's working great once again.

Back in 2008 (right before I got pregnant & right after the spider bite incident) I was meeting with a naturopath doctor to address my chronic UTIs.  I desperately wanted to find the root cause & find a way to put a stop to them & my primary doc wasn't helpful at all in this regard.  As we reviewed my medical history (& she was taking notes) I finally came face to face with just how much antibiotics I had taken over the course of my lifetime.  I was actually quite shocked.

The naturopath doctor did some tests & found that I had a "leaky gut" & that I wasn't digesting fats properly.  My digestive system was not in good shape, which isn't too shocking given the amount of antibiotics I have ingested.  Right when we were about to begin treatment for this I found I was pregnant.  The doc chose to wait on treatment.  She said that some of the herbs she had planned for me were considered safe during pregnancy (& some were definitely not) but she still didn't like to give them, just to be extra safe.  I was supposed to meet with her once per trimester & then we would resume the treatment plan after the birth.  But of course none of this was covered under insurance & anyone with kids knows that budgets get tighter with the birth of a child, not to mention going down to being a one income family from being a dual income family.  And so it got put off & I still haven't gone back.

During the pregnancy I had a UTI & had to take antibiotics.  And during labor I had a fever & was given IV antibiotics.

I was concerned about Lil J's digestive health, that it might be adversely affected because of the state of my own digestive health at the time I got pregnant & also due to antibiotics during pregnancy & labor.  I've been giving him probiotics since shortly after birth in hopes that that would help him overcome any issues he might have.

I was struggling myself with skin fungal issues.  I started seeing another alternative med doc after my own primary doc not being any help at all.  (the alternative med doc was at the same office at the naturopath, but the naturopath was off work due to having a baby of her own at the time)  I tried lots of things with little success.  Finally, about 7 months after Lil J was born, I changed my diet.  I did a super strict anti-fungus diet for about 2 months & it REALLY helped.

Shortly after Lil J was born I somehow discovered a TV show called "Know The Cause" & I chose to follow his diet plan to accomplish this.  I purchased the eating plan book & the recipe book & followed it to a T for 2 months.  ALL my skin issues went away.  (I still hope to return to the naturopath doc at some point to see if I still need to do more to fully restore my digestive health)

I remember discussing Lil J's digestive health with the alternative med doc but we both agreed it was near impossible to do anything while he was an infant.  One of the big things that you have to remove from the diet is dairy & he was on a cow-based infant formula, so that wasn't really doable.  He's had a fungal foot issue (much like athlete's foot) since he was an infant.  I have tried tons of creams & am still using one that sort of keeps it from getting worse, but never gets rid of it.  I've had my suspicions that this is related to his digestive system & an overgrowth of yeast in his system.  Each morning after his bath I completely dry out the toe area with a hair dryer & then apply cream & then his socks.  At one point the fungus had spread from the toe area to the entire bottom of the feet.  But I have managed to get it confined back to just the toe area & keep it just there.  But I have NEVER been able to eradicate it COMPLETELY.

To make matters worse, once he was able to start eating he was only willing to eat wheat!  He wants toast, pretzels, crackers, things like that.  So I've known in the back of my mind that putting him on a candida cleanse would be a nightmare, because he would just refuse to eat.  But I've also known that at some point I was going to HAVE to do it.

For a while now (maybe a year or so), his breath (especially when he first wakes up after a nap or in the morning) is very yeasty.  And then last Friday when I was brushing his teeth at bedtime I saw it--YEAST growing on the back of his tongue.  He has thrush.  (I always brush lower teeth, upper teeth, tongue, & palate  in that order & I saw it while I was brushing his tongue)  I knew that I could no longer postpone treating this.  I prayed over him, explained the situation to my hubby, & asked him to pray & to be supportive during this tough time.

So starting Saturday morning we began.  Based on my own past experience I know that you can take all the supplements you want, but if you don't change the diet you won't get anywhere.  You have to starve the yeast.  Dairy has already been removed from Lil J's diet for a while now, but wheat & sugar & corn still needed to be removed.  I am not going to be quite as strict as I was when I did this myself, it's just too hard & drastic for a toddler who doesn't understand, especially as picky as he is.  My own diet was completely grain free.  I am allowing Lil J to still have brown rice (which still allows him his rice milk & rice cakes & puffy rice cereal).  And I'm allowing almonds, his favorite nut.  And I'm allowing a small amount of fruit still, since he really likes it.  I know all about sugars & starches feeding the yeast, but he's not even 3 yet, this is REALLY hard on him, my goal is to be successful but also understanding & working with him as well.

It's tough, don't get me wrong.  It's VERY tough.  Every time I serve him something to eat he throws a tantrum.  And later on, his hunger gets to him & he gives in & eats some of what I've served.  Some of it he's still refusing though.  He's eating nut based crackers, turkey slices, rice cakes, almond milk yogurt for the most part.  I am allowing a small amount of pureed fruit or fruit leathers each day.  I'm working hard on getting him to eat some fresh fruits & veggies during this time, but as of today he's still refusing.

I have to report that 24 hours into this his breath was normal again, not yeasty.  And as of this morning (48 hours in) his athlete's foot is already almost gone.  I am still praying & hoping we can get this squared away COMPLETELY & quickly.  And I am also hopeful that we can change his future eating habits for the better during all of this.

I also ordered "ThreeLac".  It's a supplement that my alternative doc had told me to take when I was struggling with my own fungal issues.  I was never able to find it at that time & had given up.  But as I was googling about the issue specific to toddlers I ran across ThreeLac & quickly remembered why it sounded familiar & ordered it.  I am hoping it will also be helpful & effective.

Prayers would be much appreciated as me & Lil J continue to work on healing our digestive systems.  :)

32 Month updates on Lil J

I wasn't thinking yesterday, obviously.  Had I realized the very next day Lil J was turning another month older I would've just included the potty training update as part of this blog.  Oh well, no harm having an extra blog written.

So his measurements haven't changed at all in this past month.  I do hope that's normal.  His height remains 36" (25-50%), his weight remains 32.8 lbs (50-75%), & his head circumference remains 21.5" (>95%).

He continues to be more & more verbal all the time.  And it's becoming more obvious that he isn't just repeating what he hears.  He clearly comprehends most of the words & uses them in the proper context.  This really amazes me.  He sings a lot these days as well.  And he LOVES to make silly faces. 

He remains very interested in his books, his cars, his trains & trucks.  He is REALLY interested in bikes.  I think that will be his next birthday present.  I am very excited about Christmas this year.  I know he doesn't fully understand Jesus' birthday, but I am going to make cupcakes & we will sing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas morning, then we're going to church (I wish Christmas every year fell on a Sunday so we could start the day in church), then doing presents & I do think he'll be excited about his presents this year.

I'm hoping he continues to do well with potty training.  As I said earlier, I posted all about that yesterday.

This morning when hubby was leaving for work, Lil J kept saying over & over, "bye daddy!  I love you!" It was so precious.  Then when me & Lil J sat down to eat breakfast, before I could pray, Lil J bows his head & says "Thank you Jesus for food" & then he grabs my hand & continues "thank you Jesus......I love you"  It was really sweet.

I think that's all the updates I have for now.

Potty Training, revisited

So I started potty training, using the "3 day potty training method" back in mid-August.  6 weeks later, at the end of September, I was extremely stressed out, Lil J was stressed out, & my church daycare staff was requesting if he could please wear pull-ups, because he was peeing on the carpet.

Intially I didn't want to do pull-ups.  The 3 day method insists on not using them & I was concerned that he would go backwards & do even worse.  But I came to the realization that he just wasn't ready yet, & I didn't want to continue stressing him out & I didn't think I could take much more stress from it myself either.

And so I decided to just put him in pull-ups & let him go at his own pace. Throughout it all he remained very good with poo poo.  But with the pull-ups he did get lazy & start peeing without telling me.

The 3 day method insisted that you needed to do the potty training before the child turns 30 months old because at that age they get VERY stubborn & it becomes much harder.  When Lil J turned 30 months he did develop a stubborn streak & then started refusing to go to the potty.  I tried to not make a big deal out of it (so he wouldn't think he had found a way to be rebellious).  I started just taking him to the potty without asking him at that time. 

Last Sunday (a week ago yesterday) our church daycare asked why he was still in pull-ups, saying that for several weeks he hasn't had ANY accidents with them, even in his pull-ups.  I had sort of planned to just lay low until he turned 3, but I thought about this & considered giving it another try.

A week ago today (Monday) I put him back in undies rather than pull-ups.  The first couple of days we had quite a few pee accidents.  But as of Wednesday he's been doing really well.  A few times he wets his undies just slightly, not even enough to wet his pants, but that's the worst he's done.

I'm really proud of him & happy.  And I'm hoping it continues.  :)  This morning I packed up all the unused pull-ups & put them in the garage.  Of course I want to hold onto them for at least a little while, in case something happens & I find myself needing them (I did the same thing with the unused diapers back in August).

Hopefully this is it & he is at last officially potty trained.  :)

31 month updates on Lil J

Lil J is now 31 months old.  We are now officially past the 2 1/2 year mark. 

He now weighs 32.8 lbs ( 75-90%), is still 36" tall (25-50%), & has a head circumference of 21.5" (>95%).

Not a lot of changes at this point.  But I did decide to write a blog because he is much more verbal.  He is really good at verbalizing his needs at this point.  At least moreso than he ever has so far.  He is also really good at repeating what he we ask him to, & also sometimes he repeats what we say even when we don't ask him to, LOL. 

Another big change is that he is much more interested in books.  I am hopeful that he will be a bookworm, like myself.  Of course I know there are no guarantees on anything with a child, but I am hopeful & I will do what I can to encourage it, without forcing it of course.  A few weeks ago, at Costco, I picked up 2 books.  They are both early reader books.  And they both contain 6 short stories in them.  One is Thomas the Train & the other is Disney's Cars.  I bought them to use for bedtime stories.  I had planned on not leaving them accessible to him, since he is very destructive.  I was just going to pull them out for bedtime, for bedtime stories.  But he liked them SO MUCH that he kept asking for them.  I decided to just let him have full access to them, since he is showing such an interest in them. 

It's not that he hasn't shown an interest in books in the past.  He has enjoyed looking at his books.  But he is just so much more interested in these books.  I chose them for bedtime stories because A) he loves trains & cars & B) I really liked the illustrations in them.  As a child I had some big book of bedtime stories & the illustrations in these books really reminded me of those in the book I had.  I have to wonder if the reason Lil J likes these books SO MUCH is because of the illustrations.  He REALLY enjoys looking the pictures & talking about them & asing me about them.  But what I love even more is the fact that he WANTS me to read to him out of them.  I have tried many times to read him stories & his response ranged from not being interested to downright throwing a tantrum about it.  There are times when I insist & I win the battle & I read to him.  Our daily Bible study we do, for example.  And our nightly devotion we do.  But aside from that, reading to him has always been a challenge. 

NOW, at bedtime he asks me to read him a story.  And sometimes during the day he'll bring me the book & ask me to read him a story.  Most of the time he wants me to read to him from Thomas & he likes to look at Cars off & on while I'm reading from Thomas.  He gets sooo excited about the cars that he can't seem to sit calmly & listen it seems.  And he often likes to look at the same page/picture in the Cars book for a really long time.  So when I start reading & need to turn the page he gets upset. 

I think that's all the updates I have for now: more verbal & more interest in books.  To be continued....whenever there is more to report........

The death of the diaper bag

When I was pregnant with Lil J I went to pick out a diaper bag (among plenty of other baby items) & I immediately knew which one I wanted.  It needed to be a neutral color of course (since we chose to not learn the sex before the baby was born), but most were too small in my opinion.  I knew I wanted plenty of room to stash stuff that I would need on the go for the baby.  It seemed there was only ONE large diaper bag available & it was green & yellow & had ducks on it.  It was really cute & totally perfect in my opinion. 

And in those early days my extra large diaper bag was filled to maximum capacity quite often.  I remember seeing other moms with much smaller diaper bags & wondering how on earth they managed.  But I have always been the type who likes to be prepared for anything that might come my way, so I probably tend to pack more than most moms I figured. 

I know I always considered the fact that you never know when the car might break down (or when we might be evacuated from our home & not able to get in to get baby supplies).  And we did have one or two occasions where the car did break down unexpectedly.  It was after those occasions that my hubby really appreciated that I was prepared for just such a situation.  I mean, who wants to be stuck somewhere waiting on a tow truck with a hungry baby screaming & crying & not understanding why there's no more milk, diapers, fill in the blank etc. 

But after Lil J turned a year old I found the diaper bag to be much less empty.  I just didn't need as much stuff anymore.  Diaper changes & feedings were less frequent & he was no longer on formula (goat milk & goat kefir at that time, which I kept in a small insulated cooler rather than the diaper bag).  I didn't have to change his clothes as often also. 

When I delivered Lil J the hospital had sent us home with a free diaper bag full of goodies.  It was green & had frogs on it, but it was much smaller than the diaper bag I had purchased.  I stashed it away, thinking later on I might have use for it.  And so I did.  After he turned a year old I switched over to this diaper bag.

And lately I keep finding even this diaper bag quite empty.  Lil J is now on rice milk, which I keep in that small insulated cooler.  And he's potty training, so I only need to carry a couple of extra pull ups & a pack of baby wipes.  I do usually have a snack on hand, but it's still a small amount of stuff compared to how it has been in the past.

Prior to having a baby I ALWAYS carried a purse.  I always had very small purses, but I did always carry a purse.  After having a baby I quickly grew tired of juggling a purse AND a diaper bag AND a baby.  And so I had condensed the contents of my purse down to a very small zipper bag (like a pencil bag, but smaller) & I just kept it inside the diaper bag.  When shopping I just put my money in my pocket & was purse-free, only carrying a baby.  It made life much simpler for me.

I've been debating for a little while now if I should just retire the diaper bag completely.  And so I've finally done it.  Yesterday we were at JC Penny shopping for under shirts for hubby & I stopped to look at the purses & found one I like.  I still have my pre-baby purse, BUT it's really really small.  This time I bought a large purse, so that it can also hold pull ups, wipes, snacks, etc. 

It's the end of an era, just one more nail sealed on the coffin of having a baby so to speak.  I really can't say I have a baby anymore, just a little boy now.  How quickly it happens. 

30 month updates on Lil J

Today, October 20th, 2011, my stepdaughter turns 24! And my toddler turns 2 1/2. People are always astonished when they learn we have an adult, a teen, & a toddler hehehe.

So Lil J is now 33.2 lbs (75-90%), 36" tall (25-50%), & has a head circumference of 21" (>95%)

Despite the tantrums & "terrible two" phase, this is really a FUN stage we are in.  He is such a sweet boy.  He is always so desperate to help me with whatever I am doing.  Just this morning I went grocery shopping.  After we get home I bring in the bags of groceries & leave them at the entrance of the house.  Then, after all the bags are in the house, I move the bags to the kitchen so I can wipe everything down & put it away.  After carrying the first trip of bags to the kitchen I turned around to find Lil J struggling hard (but not giving up) to carry a bag over for me.  His little face was so precious.  I could see how much it meant to him to be able to help mommy.  Of course I pour on the praise & let him continue one bag at a time, no matter how long it takes him.  He was BEAMING when he finished with the last bag.  My heart literally melted.

And he's finally in a stage where we can have a conversation.  And he's learning sooooo fast now.  He has new words & phrases constantly, I can't even keep up.  And he WANTS to learn.  He often points to things & asks me what it is so he can learn & know what to call it.  He is such a smart & sweet boy.

Most days he no longer takes naps.  Occasionally he still does though.  And on the days he doesn't he sometimes go to bed for the night early  sometimes he stays up to the same time as if he did nap.  It's taking a little adjusting to get used to it all, for me I mean.  I'm just trying hard to be flexible.  And some days if I feel I need a break or if I feel HE needs a break I put him in the bedroom for "quiet time".  And I stress to him that he doesn't HAVE to go to sleep, but he does HAVE to be QUIET.  That is my only requirement.  And some days he will fall asleep & some days he will just play quietly. 

Part of me misses the nap, mostly because of the time it gave me to be able to focus on things & really get stuff done.  But part of me is looking forward to a nap-free schedule.  I mean, for the past 2 1/2 years there's been huge slots of my time where I can't leave the house &/or make appointments, etc.  So in that sense it will make life easier to end the napping, & as long as he continues to be agreeable with quiet time, allowing me to get things done that require a lot of concentration, then it's all good.

I think that's all the updates I have for now.

Potty Training, continued

So this last Saturday I finally made the decision to use pull-ups.  I know there's a huge debate out there about this & I know that the "3 day method" that I followed is totally & completely anti-pull-up.

It was a tough decision.  I have always had a hard time giving up on things.  I can see hope of a change right around the corner & I'm hanging on for it.  And yet I'm getting more & more stressed out waiting & waiting & waiting for that change to come.  This pattern holds true for a lot of things in my life, not just potty training.

The glimmer of hope for me is the fact that he can stay dry overnight & during naps.  And there are some days with absolute perfection all day long.  But then there are randomly days where he pees all over himself & there are lots of times where there's just a small wet spot on his undies & it usually goes through to his shorts or pants.  And so even though it wasn't a full blown peed on himself, I still have to change his undies & pants/shorts.  And it still creates more work, more stress, not to mention more laundry.  Since I began potty training I have had a minimum of 1 load of laundry every single day from his "accidents".  So yeah you can say that pull-ups are costly, but so is laundry.  Laundry requires water, gas, & electricity!  Nothing cheap about it.

Even though I feel like I waited too long to make the pull-up decision, I do think if I had done it too soon he wouldn't have been as successful as he has been.  He wouldn't have been as aware of his accidents.  I still put him in undies & no pull-up at bedtime & he still wakes up dry in the mornings.

So even though that was a seriously stressful 6 weeks of my life or so, I do think it was a good investment.  And as he matures & is ready we will be able to ditch the pull-ups.  I was really worried about him going backwards if I switched to pull-ups.  And I know it's only been a few days, but so far he hasn't gone backwards at all.  But I feel like all the stress of it is gone now.  I don't have to worry about him flooding the carpet, couch, his clothes, etc.  I have taught him the basics & will now let him proceed at his own pace.  He is still telling me when he needs to go, for both poop & pee.  And he is telling me at home, out shopping, etc.  The only wet pull-up I've seen so far was at church on Sunday.  And I don't understand why we have issues at church, but we have all along & so it continues.  I'm not gonna stress out about it anymore.  At some point it will stop.

And so that's a huge load of stress off of me now, thank you Jesus.  I can just sit back & wait for him to progress to perfection on his own.  And now I can focus more on teaching him to pull his undies & shorts/pants up & down by himself.  :)

The "terrible twos"

Everyone has at least heard of the dreaded "terrible twos".  Whether you have kids or not you've certainly heard of it.  And there are always a few people who insist it wasn't so bad for them with their kids.  And that always give you hope that it's not gonna be so bad.  But then you hear the horror stories from others & you worry it's gonna happen to you.  But you hope it won't.  And of course part of me feels like if I just don't talk about it I can remain in denial & pretend it's not so bad really.  But it is bad.  At least for me, with Lil J, it is bad.  A friend asked me how the tantrums were going so I decided to just write a blog about the topic.

Next month Lil J will be 2 1/2, on my stepdaughter's 24th birthday actually.  I keep hearing people who say it only gets worse when they turn 3, that then I'll be begging for the "terrible twos" to return, but we'll see about that.

So there have been times in the past when Lil J has had disasters.  There were times when he played in the dirt in a planter in the house & there was dirt all over the whole dining room & living room.  There was a time when I was organizing the kitchen pantry cabinet & he stole a box of cornstarch without me noticing & he was having a blast spreading it all over the living room without me realizing. 

But a couple of weeks ago when I came in from the garage, from working out, (the door to our garage is actually in our master bathroom, weird set up, I know, but that's how I busted him so quickly) & he had the bowl from his potty chair & was scooping water out of the toilet with it & pouring the water all over the floor.  And when he had scooped out all the water, he had flushed the toilet & left the flush knob turned to keep it flushing, so he had a never-ending supply of water to scoop.  Luckily he hadn't been at it TOO LONG, just a big puddle right where he was standing.  I could see by his face that he had no idea what he was doing was bad.  And so I didn't freak out, I just made sure to tell him to never do that again, that it wasn't ok to do that.  And he helped me clean it all up. 

Lately when it's nap time I just tell him it's "quiet time" & he plays quietly in his bed (which is in the master bedroom) & then he goes to sleep.  I know that at some point he's going to give up his nap, so I'm hoping to be able to keep the "quiet time" going so I can have a break myself.  So a few days after that toilet fiasco it was time for quiet time.  So I put him in the room & told him it was "quiet time".  I heard him playing for a little while & then it was quiet, so I assumed he had fallen asleep.  Quite some time later I had walked to the entrance area of the house (which is right next to the master bedroom & bath) & I heard water running.  So I went in & found him flooding the bathroom in the exact same manner.  This time he had continued doing it for quite some time before I caught him & there were INCHES of water on the entire bathroom floor.  The carpet in the master bedroom was SOAKED & water was literally pouring out the door that leads to the garage.  I honestly couldn't believe my eyes.  And this time I could clearly see on his face that he knew it was wrong.  This time I did spank him.  It was such a nightmare cleaning it all up.  It took me a really long time & it still took several days to get the carpet in the bedroom dry.

So you would think he learned his lesson that time.  But no.  A few days later hubby put him down for bedtime.  About 20 minutes later I was going to go give him a kiss good night.  As I opened the bedroom door I saw that the bathroom light was on.  I asked hubby if he had left it on (Lil J never needs a night light, we never leave lights on for him) & he said no.  It was then that I heard water running.  I told hubby & this time he got to bust him pulling the exact same stunt.  Luckily we caught him really early so there wasn't much water to clean up.  Hubby spanked him as well. 

And the very next day I went out & bought a toilet lock.  Hopefully we've put an end to that.

So then yesterday I put him down for "quiet time" & I noticed he was awake for a really long time.  I had a lot to do & was busy, just listening over the baby monitor.  About 2 hours later it got quiet, so I had assumed he finally fell asleep.  At the time I was putting him down he kept yelling "potty, potty" & wanting to sit on the potty chair (this is becoming a trend, a trend that I need to put an end to).  So in my impatience I just took his shorts & undies off & left him to potty on his own & put himself in bed when he was done.  So it was quiet for about 20 minutes & then I heard something.  So I went to check on him & he had pooped in his potty chair & then proceeded to play with it.  He was literally head to toe covered in poop & had smeared it EVERYWHERE.  I had to take a deep breath & then throw him in the bath tub & while he soaked in the tub I worked hard at cleaning up.  It was a horrendous sight to see & a horrendous job to clean up.  Unlike any other mess, there's the fact that feces contains lots of bacteria.  So a simple wipe down isn't gonna cut it.  I had to also disinfect every surface as well.  Just trust me that whatever image you conjure in your mind while reading this, it was worse.  That's all I can say, I can guarantee it was worse than you can imagine.  I told my hubby I would've taken pictures, but I know my hubby would never use the bathroom again, LOL.  So I definitely cannot leave him bottomless at quiet time & I need to work on putting a stop to the "potty, potty!!" screaming deal that he's starting lately.

And of course there's the temper tantrums.  I had read that a lack of magnesium can lead to behavioral issues, including temper tantrums.  Upon searching for a good source of mg I found chlorophyll listed.  Since it's a liquid it's easy to give & I already had some in the house, so I've been giving him that once in a while, in his milk (be warned that it WILL STAIN if you want to try it).  It seemed like it was helping at first, but it doesn't seem to be anymore.  :(

I still do "time outs" when he's in a bad attitude & being disobedient.  I've always done them in the play pen & the first one is 15 minutes & each additional one throughout the day gets another 5 minutes tacked on.  He used to spend the first couple of minutes screaming & crying & then he'd calm down (however, if I took him out early he would just return to the bad attitude almost immediately).  But now he's kicking & screaming for a long time in there, sometimes trying to climb out.  I simply add more time to his time out when he does this, but it's becoming a regular thing.  The time out is still effective though, just takes a little longer now.  I know for some kids it doesn't work at all, but it has always worked well for adjusting Lil J's attitude.  When he comes out I still sit down & have a talk with him making sure he understands WHY he got the time out & I am now teaching him to apologize for his behavior.

As I said before, his latest thing is to scream "potty, potty!!!" & want to sit on the potty, usually when he's being forced to do something he doesn't want to do--time out, quiet time/nap time, bed time, etc.  So I'm working hard at breaking this.  This is a tough one cuz I worry that he might legitimately have to go potty & I don't want to just ignore him & have him wet himself.  BUT I am starting to recognize the pattern of how he yells it when he's faking it.  And I just tell him he doesn't REALLY have to go & he has to do (fill in the blank) right now. 

The "terrible twos" is a tough topic to write about.  Even when you read it it doesn't fully convey how hard the situation really is, day in & day out.  But yes, we are in full swing with the "terrible twos" & I am waiting to see how much worse it's gonna get for the rest of the twos as well as the upcoming threes next spring. 

29 Month Updates on Lil J

I really should've posted a 28 month update blog.  There was plenty going on with the potty training.  But because there was plenty going on I was REALLY busy.  I kept meaning to write the blog ahead of time & then simply publish on the 20th, but never found the time.  And then on the 20th was my hubby's 30th high school reunion, so of course we were super busy that day.  And so it never got done.  My apologies.

So Lil J is now 30.2 lbs (50-75%), 36.5" tall (50-75%), & has a head circumference of 21" (>95%).

I started potty training on 8/9/11 using the 3 day potty training method.  I have posted 2 blogs specifically on that issue, so I won't say a whole lot about it here.  I am planning to do another blog on the topic soon & will probably post another one again later on down the road.  It's now been over a month since starting & definitely the majority of the time is perfection.  And almost all naps & overnight time he remains dry.  But we're still having issues while he's at church, not sure exactly why.  But I do feel like those issues are causing some going backwards here at home as well.  I'm doing my best to crack down & reduce accidents overall. 

All his fall clothing is purchased & ready to go.  He has already worn his new pants a few times now.  We are now entering the phase where it's cold early in the morning & at night, but it's still pretty warm (up to 90) during the middle of the day.  Tonight I am planning to pull out the footed PJs once again.  He's just been in soft pants & socks with a tshirt for summer sleeping. 

He is extremely active, cannot sit still or be quiet EVER.  He's even moving in his sleep LOL.  He LOVES to be outdoors.  During the summer months when it was SUPER HOT & he HAD to be outside I pulled out the little wading pool we got him & put him in swim trunks & that kept him cool while out there.  Now I'm trying to figure out how to keep him warm & dry during the winter months.  I think I definitely need to invest in some rain boots for him. 

He is definitely a little boy now & not a baby anymore.  He often shows me things, wanting to know what it's called.  I tell him & then he practices the word a few times.  And he has a great memory, which often amazes me.  I often just sit & look at him & am amazed at how big he's gotten & how much he comprehends. 

That's all the updates I have for now......until next time.

Mastering the art of shopping (for a toddler, that is)

I've never had, nor have I needed much of a "system" for buying clothes for myself.  I'm finished growing (& do very well at maintaining my weight), so I don't really have to replace clothes very often.  Yes, I'm a girl, & I do enjoy picking out new clothes from time to time.  I usually make sure they are super cheap so I can get as much clothing for my buck as possible.  There are a few items I am willing to spend some money on--shoes (not all shoes, though, just for work & working out), bras (I am a hard size to find so I am actually forced to buy pricey bras due to that, but I also think it's worthwhile to invest to good quality bras that give good support), & some few "classic" pieces that won't go out of style for a long time (like coats, blazers, that sort of thing).

I guess I do have a little bit of a system going on because I do laundry once a week, so I do try to make sure I have enough to get through a week & a little extra so that I'm not wearing the exact same clothes every week.  But that's about the extint of my "system" when it comes to buying clothes.

When I was pregnant I was kinda worried about clothing for the baby.  How much would I need?  What types of clothes would I need?  How much was it gonna cost me??  How fast would the baby outgrow the clothes?  That sort of stuff.

In the early days after the baby was born I was surviving solely on what little clothing I had received at my baby shower.  I had a 5 pack of onesies, a couple of drawstring gowns & a "sleep sack".  Of course in the early days there were lots of "accidents"--whether it be leaky diaper or spit up, so there was lots of laundry going on.  As time went on there were less accidents.  And as I learned my kid was gonna spit A LOT I decided to invest in tons of bibs, realizing it was so much easier to swap out a bib than a onesie.

For the first month or two I relied on those 5 packs of onesies that they sell at Wal-Mart, Target, Babies R Us stores.  Then one day my stepdaughter went to the Carter's store & came home with some really cute outfits.  She said she wanted to see her little brother in some cuter clothes & she also mentioned how cheap the clothes were.  That was it, after that I headed to Carter's & quickly developed a system.

Each time I headed to Carter's I would go straight to the back of the store.  The clearance rack was all the way in the back & prices went up gradually as you progressed to the front of the store.  I always got amazing deals & really loved the store.  I always preferred bodysuits (aka onesies) over shirts & bottoms when he was little because the shirts were always riding up.  I usually paired the onesies with shorts or pants.  That was another nice feature at Carter's.  Most everything was in blue or brown.  Occasionally red or grey.  And it was so easy to coordinate pieces together with their color scheme.

But then the day came when Lil J progressed to toddler clothes.  Carter's does sell some toddler clothes, but not much & I never really liked what they had, especially the prices.  It was much harder to get good deals on the toddler clothes.  Last year for the fall/winter clothes I was a little frantic trying to find a new store.  I tried Kohls, WalMart, & Target.  Target & WalMart seem to have the best deals, but the variety they offer seems to vary a great deal from one location to the next.

Last year I quickly bought up cheap long sleeved shirts.  Later on I found cheap pants & bought those.  And then I found myself trying to match them together.  It was a little tough.  And then he outgrew his jacket before the cold weather had ended (or at least windy weather, it's frequently windy where we live so I like to always have a jacket with a hood available for him).  But by that time they were selling summer clothes, no jackets could be found.  We did manage to find a windbreaker on the clearance rack in his size, but I made a mental note to make sure to not let that happen again. I also realized that the clothes that fit him well at the start of the season were the ones he grew out of before the season ended & the ones that were big on him at the start of the season lasted through the whole season.  And so I made a mental note to make sure he starts the seasons with big clothes.  Because when he outgrows them it's the same scenario as with the jacket he outgrew, it's hard to find replacements as they're then selling clothes for a different season.

Then came summer clothes.  I was happy to discover that most of his shorts still fit.  And it's always easy to find cheap shorts, which is nice.  And it's pretty easy to find cheap shirts as well.  Overall summer clothes were very cheap & easy.

This time around I am now finished buying the fall/winter clothes.  But I feel like I've got a system down now, I feel liked I learned a lot & improved on my past mistakes this time around.  I am feeling very accomplished & proud of myself.  This time around I started with pants rather than shirts.  I actually did this because I want the cheap pants & they can be hard to find & they tend to sell out fast.  I bought a size larger than he's currently wearing.  I can roll them up if I have to, but I am confident they will last the whole season.  After buying 8 pairs of $5 pants & 2 pairs of $6 jeans I then moved on to shirts.  Since I already knew what color pants I had to work with I was able to easily pick out shirts to match them.  (In the past I had bought the shirts first & then the cheap pants are very limited & it's harder to match the cheap pants to the shirts)  I also made sure to get a jacket one size larger than what we currently have for him, just in case he grows out of it.  And I also got a couple of pairs of $3 sweat pants, they just looked really comfy & cozy & were really cheap & I still had a little money left over to buy them.  And then recently hubby came home with a new pair of fall shoes for Lil J.  He said he got a super deal on them.  They are timberlands & will match very nicely with all the clothes I got.

The only thing left that I want to try to find is a pair of galoshes or rain boots.  He is such an outdoor kid that I don't think there's gonna be any way to keep him inside during the rainy season so I think I'll make sure he has a pair of rain boots & let him go out, so long as it's not pouring, which it rarely does.

Lil J has a long torso (just like his mommy & daddy) & so he has always been one size larger in shirts than pants & he still is.  He is currently in 3T shirts & 2T shorts (although some of his 18 month & 24 month shorts do still fit just fine & are still in his wardrobe).  So for the fall I bought 4T shirts & 3T pants.  So next spring I'm guessing I'll have to buy 5T shirts & 4T pants, unless his growth slows considerably.  He is currently wearing size 9 shoes, so the fall shoes hubby got are size 10.

I am so very happy that the shopping is done (with the exception of the rain boots) & that I now have a system down.  I will be sticking with this system of starting with the pants first from now on I think.  There will be a slight hiccup in the system because when he first goes into pants (from shorts) he will still be in the current short sleeved shirts.  But I did go through them & most do match up with the pants I bought.  It just won't be quite as perfect as when the weather gets cold & he moves into the long sleeved shirts with his pants.

Details on the 3 Day Potty Training Method

I chose to use the 3 day potty training method, as I explained in a previous blog. It's not an easy method, very time consuming & intensive & tough, but it is supposed to shorten the time it takes to get a toddler used to potty training. I know quite a few people who spend months, & some even years, on potty training.

After reading the e-book I could see that it was clearly an "all or nothing" method. Either follow it to a tee or don't bother. And so I decided to give it a try & to follow it to a tee.  I know several people who have used this method with great success.  And I've seen on facebook that many of their friends have also used it with great success.  In all the discussing on FB I only saw one person (a friend of a friend) who said it didn't work out.  But she even said it wasn't a bad method, only that her child wasn't ready yet & she would try again later on.  I was curious as to how old her child was, but she didn't mention it.  On the second day of this method I was starting to feel a little discouraged so I started googling the method to see what opinions there were out there on it.  I found a blog (well 2 blog posts dedicated to this topic on the same blog) where a mother gave it a try along with her hubby, but she deviated a lot from the method (diapering at night & some other things) & at the end of the 3 days she said she was a bit disappointed in the results, but that it was a start at least.  Once again, I am very happy that I refused to deviate from the plan. 

I must say it would be much easier if you could have a second person stay with you those 3 days & also know the whole plan & be able to participate in the training method. That was not possible for me. And of course you need to eliminate as much as possible from your own schedule. (if you have other children the book says to either send them to stay with a relative for the 3 days or have someone come stay with you & have that person just take care of the other children, while your entire focus will be on the toddler that's being potty trained), cooking & any other activities will be very tough to accomplish.  Anything you do, you need to be able to drop at any given moment & be prepared to have it on hold for as long as it takes in the bathroom, which can sometimes be VERY long, especially in the early part of the training.

On Monday: I ran some errands to make sure we didn't run out of any groceries during the 3 days (& even a couple of days beyond just in case) since I knew I couldn't leave the house while doing this.  On Monday night I made a pretty big dinner & warned my hubby & stepson that they would be eating those leftovers for a few days. (I made a Mexican chicken & served it as tacos, but told them it could easily be turned into burritos or salad, etc)  I had expected that cooking would be impossible to do during this & I was correct.


Tuesday, Day 1: I got up early, wanted to shower BEFORE Lil J even woke up. I was able to do so & planned to do so for the next few days (how on earth could I leave him unattended while I shower while potty training?? Surely he'd be peeing all over the house!!) Then I got him up, bathed him, put him in undies & proceeded to breakfast. Well, he did protest the undies a bit, but I put a pair on Osito as well & he seemed to get over it pretty quickly. I told him a million times to tell me when he needed to go potty. The first day was REALLY tough I have to say. Obviously Lil J has no idea what's going on. His entire life he's worn diapers & just peed & pooped freely without any thought at all. So of course he was peeing like every 2 minutes, which I'm sure is exactly what he was doing in his diapers. We had a ton of accidents, where he would tell me "potty" right as he started to pee. I would rush him to the potty & sit him on the potty & then clean him up & put on new undies (and then go clean up the mess he had made). The biggest problem I had on day 1 & most of day 2 was that he did NOT want to sit on the potty at all. I would sit him on it, but he would jump up immediately. The book said to not force him to sit on the potty, so I didn't. I just kept praising him & telling him the goal is to keep his undies dry. I was very happy that he understood to tell me "potty" each time, that part he had down from the get-go. He pooped standing up in the bathroom, right next to the potty. During his nap he peed all over the bed.  At bedtime my hubby asked me "overnight diaper, right?" And I told him "no!" He looked at me increduously. I know he thought I had lost my mind. Now I must explain that Lil J pees A LOT. Most days he floods his diaper & leaks all over the bed during his 2 hour nap. And at night he wears the huggies overnight diapers & frequently floods those as well. [I must also say that as a kid I was a bed-wetter & it was horrible. My sister & I were both bed-wetters for A LOT of years, although my brother wasn't at all. I find this odd because everything says that boys are far more likely to be bed-wetters than girls are. But I have been preparing myself for the possibility of Lil J being a bed-wetter. I had planned to keep him in pull ups or to wake him up during the night to take him to the potty as needed in order to keep him from waking up in a wet bed, like I did for so many years. The uncomfortableness of it & the embarrassment of it was horrible. I remember always wanting to go to camps or sleepovers & being too afraid that everyone would know I was a bed-wetter. We used to go camping a lot in our motorhome when I was a kid & every morning my mom would strip my bunk & wash the sheets & hang them on the back of the motorhome to dry & I would be soooo embarrassed, convinced the whole campground knew I was a bed-wetter. It was bad enough to me that my own family members knew, much less the rest of the world. Anyways, all that to say that I do not want my son to have to wake up in a wet & cold bed, & I have already been planning to find ways to avoid that & hubby is very aware of that. BUT I decided to follow this plan for the 3 days & after that I was planning to put him back into a diaper at night--& possibly nap time.]  So hubby & I were sure he would be swimming by morning. We were both totally blown away the next morning when we found him totally & completely DRY!! (of course we had both gotten up a couple of times during the night to check on him & were already amazed to find him totally dry)

Wednesday, Day 2: I was hoping for more improvement than what actually occurred this day. I was starting to feel a little a little discouraged, but hubby kept telling me he was AMAZED at how well Lil J was doing. He kept reminding me that since he was able to stay dry all night he was totally physically ready to do this. (Initially hubby had thought he was too young to be potty trained, & I honestly had no clue, but we both agreed that worst case scenario we just start over again at a later time.) We had a lot of accidents this day, still struggling a lot with the fact that he didn't want to sit on the potty. I tried offering him the big adult potty, with his smaller seat on it & his current potty chair as a stepstool to the big potty (that's how his potty chair is designed), he tried it, but he didn't like that either. During his nap he again peed in the bed, although it was less than on day 1. He once again pooped standing up, right next to the potty chair. My greatest moment of this day was at the end of the day when hubby got home & hubby was able to get him over his fear of the potty chair.  (My hubby to my rescue!  :) )  And again, he stayed dry the whole night.

Thursday, Day 3: His first words upon waking this day were "potty". It took a little while, but he did finally go. He's still learning to control his body functions it seems, starting & stopping his stream. From there on out we were on a bad streak. He kept forgetting to tell me until the last second, or not staying on the potty chair & then peeing on the floor. He had  really hard time starting his stream while sitting on the potty.  He wanted to stand up in order to start & of course pee on the floor, & then sit back down to finish.  I was really starting to feel discouraged......and then suddenly I found hope. When he FINALLY peed in the potty while sitting, with no peeing on the floor, he grabbed my hand & led me to the toilet. He pointed at the toilet & said "bye bye!" & waved. I suddenly understood what he was asking for. I dumped his pee into the toilet & flushed & made a big deal about it, waving good bye. He was LOVING this!! After that we had several totally successful pees on the potty with no accidents whatsoever. He was totally excited to say good bye to his pee & watch it flush away. I have a few sticker books & initially when he was able to pee without wetting his undies I would let him pick a sticker as a reward. I ended up expanding that to just peeing in the potty, even if he did wet his undies during the process. He was pretty excited about the sticker, but not enough to make him really WANT to pee in the potty. The excitement of the flushing was just what we needed. Part of this program is that you keep the toddler in nothing but a tshirt & undies. Of course at night I put a pair of pants on him & socks, to make sure he didn't get cold. So I started to wonder if the pants were somehow helping him to stay dry overnight, so on this day I put pants on him for his naptime.   And it totally worked.  He stayed dry for his nap & continued to pee perfectly on the potty with no accidents the rest of the day. 

Friday: So we're finished.  I am sure there will still be occasional accidents.  But overall I am thrilled.  He still pooped standing up this morning, but since most people say potty training for poop is very hard & that their kids just poop in their pants I am thrilled.  It's just one small step away from him sitting down on the potty to poop.  I did deviate from this plan in one way--on day one you're supposed to pull out & throw away all the diapers with your child.  I went into this not convinced that it would be a success, so I skipped that part.  This morning I removed the diapers from the diaper bag & changing table & bagged them & put them in the garage.  I still won't get rid of them completely for at least a little while, just to make sure.  And when I do get rid of them I will give them to someone who needs them, not throw them away.  From now on the "diaper" bag will have extra changes of undies & bottoms & wipes (& still snacks of course!). 

I must say I am nervous about going out in public.  What if he has to go while I'm driving?  What if he has to go while we're grocery shopping?  At someone's house?  I remember feeling a lot like this in the very early days when he constantly needed a bottle.  It was so hard to go anywhere other than home & yet I had so many errands that needed to get done.  I always felt so nervous back then. 

One more comment I'd like to make: I've seen & heard a lot of people who say to keep no undies or diapers on a child while potty training, just leave them in bare bottoms.  This particular method requires undies & a tshirt & nothing else.  And I personally think this is the best idea.  I have to admit there were 2 or 3 times that I missed Lil J peeing early on & if not for the wet undies I would've missed that teaching opportunity & never have known that he had peed.  And of course if you have more than just undies it becomes really hard to visibly see when they are actually peeing right away.

And one final comment: I recall, in the past, overhearing a coworker saying that a 3 or 4 year old that isn't potty trained has a lazy mother.  While I don't necessarily think that will always hold true I can see why she made that statement.  Despite how annoying diapers can be, they are actually easier, for the parent at least. 

I think that's all I have to say for now...........

Adventures in potty training

I've known for quite some time now that at some point I was going to have to deal with potty training. It was one of those things where just the thought of it would invoke fear in me.

I guess I was fearful because I didn't have a plan of action, a game plan, so to speak. I'm the type of person that always has a structured plan for things unknown. I do my research & establish a plan. Of course I'm usually flexible if the plan doesn't pan out as expected, but at least it's a starting point for me.  But I honestly didn't have a plan for such a thing as this.  And most people say that boys are much harder than girls, although I've seen plenty of people say that their boys were much easier than their girls, so I firmly believe that it depends on the child, not the sex of the child.

To further complicate matters I would see people talking about potty training & which method they preferred. But on the flipside my hubby kept insisting I didn't need to follow any "method", just let it happen when it happens was his motto. I kept trying to go with my hubby's game plan, but it made me very nervous I must admit.

At Lil J's last checkup at the doctor she asked me if I had started potty training & I told her no, & that I hadn't seen any signs of readiness yet.  She told me to be prepared to start soon, at least within the next 6 months (& this was 4 months ago!!!).  She shared with me her adventures of potty training her twin daughters.

In the past few months I have seen A LOT of people mentioning potty training on facebook. And they all were following a specific method. A lot of them have children close in age to my Lil J, so that was making me even more nervous.

I remember the first one I saw, they said Dr. Phil's method was amazing. I googled it, but really didn't like the sound of it. It said you needed to get a doll that pees & have your child potty train the doll. I suppose if I had a daughter I might give it a try, but since I have a son I didn't want to waste my money buying a doll.  I also just couldn't imagine this working with my son, based on his personality I mean.  

Shortly after that I saw a whole bunch of people on facebook (mostly friends through MOPS) were potty training using the 3 day method. I was watching all the posts closely, intently.  I kept reminding myself that there is no real rush, I don't have daycare or anything else that has a deadline for potty training like some parents do.  I finally started asking questions about this method & one of my friends sent me the e-book that explains the whole method.

It's a 40 page e-book & I read it in about an hour.  I was intrigued to say the least.  It recommended doing it at 22 months of age & stated that some children (though not most) can do it even earlier than that.  What REALLY caught me my attention was the fact that it said it was MUCH harder to do if you wait until 30 months or later.  Lil J is almost 28 months already.  And I needed 3 full days of not leaving the house to do this.  So I had to do this while my stepson is out of school (so I'm not needing to leave the house to pick him up).  I had actually planned to do this LAST week, but then Lil J was sick (with the roseola virus), so I decided to postpone it a week until he was all better.

The one thing that I do really like about this method is that it seems that you can get the potty training down much more quickly.  I have known many, many people who are in the potty training process for YEARS. 






And so, as you can see in the photo, the 3 day potty training method is a go in my house.  (I even put undies on Osito in addition to Lil J!!)  I am currently on day 2.  It's definitely intense & challenging & demanding of your time & attention.  For people who can't dedicate a full 3 days of undivided attention to their child it's not a good choice.  It's pretty much an all or nothing deal.  You either follow it to a tee or don't bother.

I will, at some point, after completing all 3 days, either edit in the daily details here or (most likely) just publish a whole new blog with those details.  Right now Lil J is napping & I don't want to spend the whole time here on the computer, plus it's not finished yet, only half way there.

26 month updates on Lil J

Ok, so I didn't do a 25 month blog update, though I remain undecided as to officially how often to do these updates now. Last month there just wasn't really anything new to report (& I didn't even weigh or measure him). But this month I feel like there are a few changes so I decided to go ahead & post an update (& I did weigh & measure him). Perhaps I'll never come to a concrete schedule for posting them & will just post when there's changes & not post when there's not changes.

So Lil J is now 31.2 lbs (50-75%), 36" tall (50-75%), & has a head circumference of 20.5" (>95%).

He is definitely more verbal than ever before now. He tries to repeat what he hears most of the time now. It is very easy to teach him a new command word, which allows him to communicate his needs/wants much more easily, which is definitely a good thing.

Also new, when he's watching TV he is very aware of what is taking place.  Anytime something scary or sad is happening he is now very aware of it & will turn to me & start crying about it.  For example, one of his favorite things to watch right now is "Milo & Otis" & there's a scene where Milo falls off of a cliff & down into the ocean.  He always gets scared & sad about Milo's fall.  It happens with other shows too though, not just that one scene. 

About a week or two ago I started showing him letters at bedtime. It was just for fun really & he REALLY loved it & quickly started asking to see "AB" quite often. I started with A, B, & C, but soon started adding on more letters. And as of last night he now is doing the entire alphabet. What truly amazes me is that quite a few of the letters he knows just by looking at them. I mean, I have no idea at what age children are capable of learning things, but I wasn't expecting it this early. I was starting to think that maybe he's just remembering the order of the letters in the alphabet, rather than actually recognizing the letters, but after we go through each letter one by one I then let him play with them. And he starts pointing at them & naming them, in totally random orders. He likes to try to make words with them, which also amazes me. I usually pull out the letters at bedtime & naptime now. He usually doesn't want to take a nap, no matter how tired he is, so it's become an easy way to get him in his bed for naptime. He's soooo excited to see "AB" that he will go & once he's there he usually knocks out for his nap before too long.

So up next (after he's gotten really good with what we're doing right now) I'll add in the lower case alphabet & then once he's reallly good with that I'll move to colors & numbers I guess.

I can't remember if I included this in the last update or not, but for quite a while now when we pray he always says "amen" at the end with me. And when I serve him food I'm really good about praying with him for breakfast, but I'm not always so good throughout the rest of the day with him, because he eats so frequently, it's not like actual meals, like myself eating. He's more of a grazer & I want to encourage him to eat actual FOOD (rather than just drinks) so I'm not gonna try to shift him to actual meals just yet. But more & more often now when I give him food, before he eats he mumbles a little something & ends with "amen" & then starts eating. And at dinner time we've started holding hands as we pray over dinner (it was something we used to do sometimes, but not all the time) & now he really loves that. The other night hubby & my stepson were going to eat dinner (& I had already eaten & wasn't hungry, but was sitting at the table with them) & Lil J joined us at the table too. Hubby & stepson joined hands to pray over their meal & Lil J quickly grabbed my hand & bowed his head & so I bowed my head with them & at the end we all said "amen" together. It was really a cute moment.

Aside from those changes the only other one I can think of that's worth mentioning is simply that he's becoming more obedient, which is definitely a good thing. And his temper tantrums do still exist, but they aren't as bad or as frequent as they were a month or two ago. I've been under a lot of criticism for my parenting style (which I have to say I really don't appreciate--I certainly don't go around criticizing others on how they're raising their kids & these people are not in my home seeing the full story of Lil J's behavior, etc--it's honestly just people that don't like me & are constantly looking for things to justify why they don't like me so I'm not taking it seriously at all--if it was truly constructive criticism I would definitely listen & consider what they have to say, but that is not the case at all). So the fact that his behavior is improving is proof to me that I am doing a good job & I will continue in the same way regardless of what people want to say. I am accountable to God & no one else in my job as a mother. Honestly, do people have nothing better to do than sit around & think they are so high & mighty & perfect that they have the ability to judge everyone else??? IMO a child's personality & behavior dictate how they should be parented, there is no one-size-fits-all parenting in my book. And if you aren't in my home 24/7 you have no idea what I've been through with this little guy, he has definitely been a major handful & very difficult to manage.

He is now drinking less & eating more food, thank God. I was concerned about how I was going to handle potty training when he was guzzling so much liquid (rather than EATING) because he was going through diapers like crazy. It would be awfully hard to potty train when he pees that frequently. Of course that's not to say that I am ready to start potty training, but I do know that it's coming up, just waiting for signs that he is REALLY ready.

That's all the updates I have for now........until next time, whenever that may be......

24 month (2 YEAR) updates on Lil J

So Lil J is now 2 years old.  The big 24 months is upon us.  Time has certainly flown! 

He is now 35" tall ( 50-75%), weighs 30.8 lbs ( 75-90%), & has a head circumerence of 20"  ( 90-95%).

He is now old enough to do the height predictor calculator, so I did it--just for fun really.  The prediction is that he will be 6 feet tall at the age of 18, but it comments that most boys continue growing slightly more until the age of 21.

I have to say that the 23rd month was VERY interesting.  He is definitely in the midst of the so-called "terrible two's" now, I am dealing with LOTS of temper tantrums on a regular basis now.  But I am just blown away at how well he has learned to communicate his wants & needs at this point.  And I am even more blown away at how much he is comprehending.  I will give an example of this in just a moment.

He is totally obsessed with cars & trains ("choo choos") & trucks & planes these days.  He seems to have forgotten all those flashy noise-making toys, at least most of the time.  Occasionally he will pull one out & play with it, but not very often.  He does still like the alphabet bus one, but that's mostly because it has wheels & looks similar to a train.  He also really enjoys the "wheels on the bus" song that it plays.

He also really enjoys his books now.  He likes to look at them & say the words to what he recognizes in the book.  He can clearly recognize the word "clap", there is no question about it, he can look at just the word & no photos or anything else & will respond by clapping & will sometimes say the word "clap".

I haven't focused a whole lot on colors & numbers yet, but I think I need to start that soon.

As for that example I was going to give: for a while now he likes to turn his cars upside down & then I say "whaaaat?" "cars don't go like THAT!!"  It's just a silly little game that we play & he LOOOVES it so.  So the other day hubby, J, & I were out having lunch & I was telling hubby about the game & how much I enjoy it & how much J enjoys it too.  I can't believe how he laughs when we play this game.  J usually initiates the game himself & he originally started it too, but now sometimes I initiate it too.  So I'm telling hubby about it & suddenly J gets this huge grin on his face & he turns his snack cup upside down & starts LAUGHING, waiting for me to react.  It was clear that he knew exactly what I was saying to hubby, which totally shocked both of us!

This is what we got him for his birthday:
Lil J's birthday present

And here's a pic of his birthday cake I made for him: (sorry it's side-ways, don't know how to fix that on here....)

Yesterday I had to put him on a time-out.  After a time-out I always hold him in my arms & talk about WHY he had to go on a time-out, what he SHOULD have done that would've prevented it, & what he can do NEXT time to prevent it.  And of course I reassure him of how much I love him.  But yesterday was the first time ever he looked up at me & said "I sorry".  It was soooo touching. 

I think that's all the updates I have for now......I am wondering how long I should keep up these monthly J update blogs......is anyone still interested in reading them?  Input would be appreciated.

23 month updates on Lil J

So Lil J is now 23 months! Wow, how time has FLOWN by!! One more month & he is the big TWO!!!!!

He now weighs 28.4 lbs (50-75%) (he lost a little), is 34" tall (25-50%) & has a head circumference of 20" (90-95%).

It's been an interesting past month. He started doing a lot of climbing, including trying to climb out of his crib. So we ended up converting to a toddler bed (which is his crib with a different front panel on it) to prevent him from falling out of the crib & possibly hurting himself. That in & of itself has been quite an event for us this month. When I put him down to bed the first night he kept wanting to get up, but I explained to him that he needed to stay in bed & go to sleep & he did listen. But then later on that night somehow slid out onto the floor. He does move constantly all day long & even in his sleep as well. So I don't think he got up, I honestly think he just moved near the opening & slid out. The whole night I was half awake, listening to make sure he was ok & I heard a lot of movement & then a small short cry. When I rushed to check on him I found him sitting upright on the floor in front of his bed. Hubby came then to & he put him back in bed & he fell right back to sleep. But the next day he was terrified to take his nap in the bed & for a few days he refused to nap. Bedtime is a tad easier than naptime, I think simply because it's DARK at bedtime & he can't see to roam around. The only way I can get him to nap is to stay with him until he falls asleep.

As for other happenings this past month: lots of tantrums, lots of time-outs, & lots of new words & phrases. He now can high-5 (thanks to Kahlil) & he blows kisses. He is getting much better at expressing his needs & wants, even if it's not verbally. He is FINALLY starting to sit (for a minute at time or so) & look at his books NICELY, not being rough & tearing them up now. And a couple of times he brings me a book & sits in front of me wanting me to read it to him. That's something I've been wanting so badly, but there was no sign of it coming EVER. So I am very pleased with that.

That's really all I can think of for now..........

22 month updates on Lil J

So my Lil J is now 22 months old!  WOW!!  He is almost 2 now, it's a little hard to believe. 

He now weighs 30 lbs (75-90%), is 34" tall (50-75%), & has a head circumference of 20" (>95%). 

At the beginning of the month he was really challenging me, doing things he knows he's not supposed to be doing & definitely deliberately doing them to see what my response would be.  I quickly cracked down & started the "time outs" again & within a couple of days he was behaving once again.  I can definitely see that if I get lax about discipline he will start pushing the limits deliberately.  It would seem that he WANTS me to discipline him.  I suppose, in a sense, a child finds comfort in knowing that their parents care & keep them safe. 

I guess one change I have noticed this month is that he is ever so slightly a tad more adventurous with food.  But it's VERY slight & not all the time even.  But I do hope that it's a sign of things to come in the future. 

He also seems to be much more difficult when we've been out in public this month.  It's quite embarrasing I must say, I can only hope that other people aren't too bothered.  I do try my best to keep him under control, but some days it's REALLY a challenge.

He's also been more physically active.  He is doing a lot more climbing & is a lot more coordinated than ever before.  I recently joined a group of Christian moms that homeschool at a local park & he was climbing up on the seat at the picnic table like nothing.  I was so blown away, as he has never done that before.  I guess he just saw the other kids doing it & decided to do it too.  He climbs down off of our bed with ease now too.  He's tried that a couple of times in the past but always lost control & almost hurt himself (mommy was close by to save him, but just enough so that he still realized he shouldn't ever do that on his own--a little fear can go a long way in keeping a kid safe IMO).  He's been climbing up in the rocking chair & the chairs at the dining room table as well.  He likes to try to climb on his toys, as if they were step stools, so he can get to things he can't normally reach.  He is quite the adventurer these days. 

Just this morning I caught him TWICE trying to climb out of his crib!!  So I'm sure it won't be long before we have to convert to a toddler bed.  That thought makes me VERY nervous.

That's really all there is to report this month.